


autumn is our season

by the_cloud_whisperer



Series: Cloud's Zukaang Fics [12]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Autumn, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, Reflection, Zukaang Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_cloud_whisperer/pseuds/the_cloud_whisperer
Summary: Zukaang Week 2020 Day 2: AutumnZuko and Aang's musings on the nature of autumn, the cycle of rebirth, and what it means for them.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Cloud's Zukaang Fics [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1219487
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57
Collections: Zukaang Week 2020





	autumn is our season

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet; a bit rushed because I wrote it at work this morning.

A dragon sails across the sky, serpentine body rippling in the currents of the wind. It dips and dives, soars and ascends, free as the air itself, yet it never strays far from the patch of sky directly within Zuko's sight where he lies in the field, lazing the afternoon away. It's not often that he gives himself the day off as Fire Lord, and he feels he deserves to spend the time as he wishes, slipping in and out of subconscious reverie as his eyes trace the dragon's whimsical trajectory. 

The dragon angles its way back towards him, swooping down on him in a steep descent as if it intends to carry him away for a feast. Zuko doesn't dodge it, though, even as the fierce mane and sharp spikes of its teeth draw near, because he knows it will twitch aside just before reaching him. And so it does, its sinuous, silken form brushing his shoulder and ruffling his hair as it twists sharply and flies back towards the sky, tame as any household pet. 

"Ha, I nearly got you there!" Aang's triumphant declamation graces his ears from beyond his sight. "You flinched, didn't you?" 

He closes his eyes, relishing his love's voice heightened through a lid of darkness. "Nonsense," he scoffs. "I did nothing of the sort." 

He listens greedily to the sound of Aang treading towards his place of repose, light and airy, and the soft rustle of grass nearby as he brings the kite down from the sky to rest on the ground. This dragon breathes no fire and does not fly of its own accord. Aang bought it in town for their impromptu picnic today but smugly tore off the rope and strings attached to it, claiming to need nothing more than his innate airbending skills to fly the kite. 

"Early autumn is the best time to fly kites," Aang remarks, sitting down in the grass and pulling Zuko's head into his lap. "The winds are starting to pick up, but they aren't so strong that they're difficult to control. It's just starting to get chilly, but not too cold to be out and about." 

"Mm," Zuko rumbles sleepily, torn between feasting his eyes on Aang and resuming his comfortable nap. 

"Do dragons hibernate?" Aang asks, looking down at his bleary state. "It is getting colder. You're not going to go to sleep for the winter and leave me alone to deal with all the Fire Nation's business?" 

Zuko snorts at this far-fetched idea. "I wish, sometimes." 

They drowse together peacefully for a time, away from the world's woes and worries, broken at length by further musings. 

"I was just thinking: autumn is our season." 

"Hm?" Aang queries, half-woken from his meditation-turned-daydream. 

Zuko reaches a limp hand up towards Aang, tracing characters with the tip of one finger. "If you take 'harmony' and 'fire,'" he inks the characters in midair with firebending, "remove one component and merge the remainder together, you get 'autumn.'" 

The word blazes before their eyes, simple but telling. "We met in winter, twelve years ago, and I spent that whole winter and spring chasing you across the world, as well as part of the summer sending an assassin after you. Autumn is the only season when I haven't tried to kill you." 

"Well, let's hope it stays that way," Aang says lightly. 

He lets his hand drop, about to allow the flames to wink out, but Aang catches it and brings it to his lips. With careful precision, so as not to disturb the architecture of the fire calligraphy, he breathes a gentle stream of his own fire to intertwine with Zuko's 'autumn.' The flames flicker in delicate polychrome, evoking the rainbow flames of the firebending harmony they experienced together when they first learned from the dragons. 

Autumn is when summer begins to yield to winter, when plants fade and die, and others retreat to slumber for months, waiting out winter's harshness. But such is the cycle of life: many things must die before new good can be born. Fire Lord Ozai's oppressive reign had to end before Zuko could assume the throne amid peace and harmony. The chaff from the harvest must be burned for spring's renewal. The Avatar must die for a new one to manifest. 

But not for a long while yet, he reassures Zuko silently, lips pressed to his fingers in gentle adoration. 

_Autumn is our season. We still have this time._

**Author's Note:**

> 和：hé, 'harmony'. This is the 和 that you always see in the posters and gifsets of the four elements where it's 氣和，'air is harmonious'. 
> 
> 火: huǒ, 'fire' 
> 
> 秋: qiū, 'autumn'. So if you take out the 口 from 和 and smush the 禾 together with 火, you get autumn. 
> 
> Interestingly, the component 禾 means 'grain', and I wondered if the etymology of 秋 came from the practice of burning grain husks and chaff with fire after the autumn harvest to leave the ash to enrich the soil for spring. Don't know if that was typically done back in the day, though.
> 
> For a couple of other autumn-related fics I've written, check out [Mid-Autumn Festival](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16090148) and [Double Ninth Festival](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21607918), both inspired by Chinese festivals set in the autumn.
> 
> Find me on other social media via [my Tumblr](http://the-cloud-whisperer.tumblr.com)!


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